Cursed now showing on Netflix

Late last Summer I had the privilege of working on 7 episodes of Cursed for Netflix. It’s now showing worldwide and went in at number one in the UK!

My weeks were spent in the crowd room with the most wonderful group of artists. The hours were long and the turnarounds were fast but it was the most fun I’ve ever had and hope there will be a second season.

As well as the Snake Warrior and the Faun shown here I also worked on other fauns and snakes, as well as paladins, tusks, villagers, romans and barbarian tusk warriors.

You can see more examples of my work for the show on my Instagram page

And of course streaming on Netflix! I thoroughly enjoyed it so give it a try!

IMATS demo for The Makeup Armoury

I was fortunate enough to be given a second chance to demo for the wonderful gang at The Makeup Armoury at IMATS London on Sunday May 19th 2019.

A couple of years ago I met Ed Yates while doing the Don Lanning sculpting course and we became good friends. Ed is an incredible artist and is infectiously upbeat and enthusiastic. We talked loosely about one day working together but it seemed unlikely as he lives in Melbourne, Australia!

But 20,000km barely seems like good reason to scupper an idea so we set to work and arranged to demo in London (I got the better part of the deal!).

We settled on the idea of a Rhino hybrid which gently evolved into Rhino Cop. The excellent Paul Ewen came on board as our willing model and we set to work.

First up I lifecast Paul and sent a fibreglass core of his head and shoulders to Australia. Ed then sculpted the cowl and neck and sent a snap of the face back to me to ensure my facial appliance would match up.

We ran all the pieces in encapsulated silicone with Ed doing some intrinsic painting in his to make life easier as it also had to be punched with bright white yak hair.

Being a glutton for punishment I decided to fabricate body armour with flashing lights to give him more of a SWAT look and also fabricated foam arms to bulk out his silhouette.

The first time we saw each others completed pieces was on the stand. We had run out a lot of blenders in case there were issues but not a single one was used and the application went flawlessly.

It was perhaps the best experience of my life and I could ask for a better partner to tackle it with or a better support network in Natalie, Alice, Paul and Chris Lyons at Fangs FX who custom-made truly unique teeth to complete the look.

You can read more about James and Ed’s Excellent adventure at https://www.themakeuparmoury.com/blogs/news/behind-the-makeup-james-and-eds-excellent-adventure

And please check out Ed’s work at:

http://www.edwardyatesmakeupeffects.com/
and
https://www.instagram.com/edyatesmufx/

Battle of the Brushes

I was lucky enough to be a finalist at this year’s Battle of the Brushes at IMATS London on Saturday May 18th 2019.

We had to provide a model and costume and work within the theme of “misfits” using foam latex appliances chosen for us. I was given a muzzle piece and two brows. I chose to apply the brows to the cheek bones instead to make him more unnerving.

The rest of the application involved fitting a bald cap and wig, hair laying brows, sideburns and a soul patch, and flocking stubble and the sides of his head.

My model was the ever-so-patient Will Harvey from Monster FX and the contact lenses were custom-made for us by the wonderful people at Cantor and Nissel.

I had three hours to complete before judging by the likes of Ve Neill and Lucy Sibbick before hitting the catwalk in front of the crowd.

Sadly I didn’t win but it was a great experience and I’m still very happy with what I achieved as I had never competed before.